[Factor3x]

Hello,

I'm Moderantly good with PCs and the Components that go into them (Desktop wise).
Anyways I'm trying to find a Motherboard proccessor combo that is better them mine for under 300$

-ASUS P5LP-LE

-Pentium D 920 (P) DC 2.8 GHz (No Link)

I want to do this without having to update any other components
I have 4 x 1GB DDR PC2-5300
I know it would probably be smart to go ahead with a DDR3 but idk if i can keep under 300$ and keep my 4GBs of Memory.

Anyways what I'm asking is simple, Someone can volunteer to look me up a Motherboard/Processor That is under 300$ but is better then what i posted
and if possible get me some RAM that is DDR3 and everything (But under 300$)

Also if you want. I'm always looking to learn, if you can describe why and what makes (Your choice of product) Better i would be happy to learn why.

P.S. I'm a gamer, i want something that will load World of Warcraft faster then what my computer is doing. take 10-20 secs to load the game up. (most programs)


Manufacturer:
HP Pavilion 061 (Costumes added)
Processor:
Intel® Pentium® D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory:
4049MB RAM
Hard Drive:
290 GB
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Operating System:
Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Motherboard:
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard

[JimH443]

Factor3x, on 07 November 2009 - 07:16 AM, said:

P.S. I'm a gamer, i want something that will load World of Warcraft faster then what my computer is doing. take 10-20 secs to load the game up. (most programs)

You have defragged your hard drive, right? If you're using Windows' defragger, it's best to run it at least twice. The first time to do the bulk of the defragging, and the second time to "encourage" it to compact the files. For ideal performance, keep re-running the defragger until it takes less than 10 seconds from start to finish. Depending on how badly your hard drive is fragmented, it can take running it 6 times or more before the start to finish time is less than 10 seconds.

[KStrawn]

Factor3x, on 07 November 2009 - 03:16 AM, said:

Hello,

I'm Moderantly good with PCs and the Components that go into them (Desktop wise).
Anyways I'm trying to find a Motherboard proccessor combo that is better them mine for under 300$

-ASUS P5LP-LE

-Pentium D 920 (P) DC 2.8 GHz (No Link)

I want to do this without having to update any other components
I have 4 x 1GB DDR PC2-5300
I know it would probably be smart to go ahead with a DDR3 but idk if i can keep under 300$ and keep my 4GBs of Memory.

Anyways what I'm asking is simple, Someone can volunteer to look me up a Motherboard/Processor That is under 300$ but is better then what i posted
and if possible get me some RAM that is DDR3 and everything (But under 300$)

Also if you want. I'm always looking to learn, if you can describe why and what makes (Your choice of product) Better i would be happy to learn why.

P.S. I'm a gamer, i want something that will load World of Warcraft faster then what my computer is doing. take 10-20 secs to load the game up. (most programs)


Manufacturer:
HP Pavilion 061 (Costumes added)
Processor:
Intel® Pentium® D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory:
4049MB RAM
Hard Drive:
290 GB
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Operating System:
Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Motherboard:
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard

Look at the ads for Fry's to see if you can get any discounted bundles. My AMD Phenom X4 9750 came bundled with an ECS A770M-A MB for $179! This may be your best bet.

[SnyperTodd]

Welcome to the PCWorld Community, Factor!

While your motherboard is aging, it's still very capable of running (most of) the latest LGA-775 processors. Basically any of the Core2Duo series will outperform your Pentium D. The Pentium Ds use the older, slower NetBurst architecture of the Pentium 4, while Core2 processors use the newer, faster Core architecture. For best performance, I recommend that you look into the Core2Duo E8400. It's a little over half your budget, and an excellent performer. It will also work with your current motherboard. If you still want to upgrade your motherboard, I'd recommend a P45-based motherboard. My personal brand preference is Gigabyte or Foxconn. Foxconn has an excellent bang-for-the-buck board called the ELA. It's aimed at multimedia enthusiasts, but it's a perfectly capable gaming board. Foxconn has equipped a several of their boards with superior quality voltage regulation components (Digital PWM), and this is one of them. It also runs DDR2, so you can keep your current 4GB set. I don't know if you're married or not, but this will keep you well under budget, which is always a hit with the wife!

If you wanted to spend a little more on a board, here's a Gigabyte that is very popular and very stable. Any of Gigabyte's -DSxx or -UDxx series boards are pretty much guaranteed to be rock solid.

[SnyperTodd]

Oh jeez, I got your post confused with another one. I thought you had a P5N-E SLI board. If you go with a full ATX board as I suggested, you'll have to get a new case to put it in. You can get okay cases cheap, but shipping is killer on them, and you usually have to spend a little to get free shipping on a case. I'll see if I can find any decent uATX boards for you so you won't have to switch cases. Sorry about the misunderstanding.

Edit:
Okay, I like to stay away from Intel's G-series chipsets if an IGP isn't needed. You've got a decent video card, so you don't need integrated graphics. The only uATX board I found on Newegg with a P45 northbridge is this DFI. DFI makes good components, and this should be a good solid board. Of course, there's always the AMD side, if you're not opposed to that....

This post has been edited by SnyperTodd: 07 November 2009 - 07:09 PM

[Factor3x]

Alright thank you very much you have been very helpful.
I know this is completely off topic but if anyone knows a website or a book i might be able to pick up at a local library which teaches me what everything means so i can learn and not have to ask questions in the future, i would be very happy.

PS. Thanks for letting me know what i can look into.
I need to know if you can find me a good Heat sink that can keep it cool better then This
I need somthing under 40$. With the processor i posted previously it get 75c (200f) when playing Dragon Age: Origins (Max graphics) Its maxes out my CPU at 100% and my fan is always running fast. Sounds like my desk top is a jet Engine. Idk if that is good for it (im sure it isant) but the CPU i have is over the recommended requirements.

The reason its working so hard is because in the past i took the heat sink off to blow it out, not knowing anything about Thermal paste at the time and i ran it for a week or 2 without thermal paste. Finally got some but, i think it damaged it (I play Video game frequently) so it probably did. It is a 2005 CPU. I need to up date it anyways MB and CPU is the only thing i haven't upgraded yet on my tower. (Other then H. Drive)

[SnyperTodd]

Factor3x, on 08 November 2009 - 10:39 AM, said:

Alright thank you very much you have been very helpful.
I know this is completely off topic but if anyone knows a website or a book i might be able to pick up at a local library which teaches me what everything means so i can learn and not have to ask questions in the future, i would be very happy.

Hey, if you've got questions, by all means ask away! That's what we're here for. Answering questions is not a bother to us. You won't get the typical snarky "Google is your friend" or "Search before you post" comments here, we're not like some other forums. If you want a word defined or something clarified, just ask.

As far as the heatsink, $40 is a good budget for that. One of the best you can buy is the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, and it's well within your price range. It's #4 on FrostyTech, so you can be assured that it'll keep your CPU cool.

[crazy4laptops]

Factor3x, on 07 November 2009 - 06:16 AM, said:

Hello,

I'm Moderantly good with PCs and the Components that go into them (Desktop wise).
Anyways I'm trying to find a Motherboard proccessor combo that is better them mine for under 300$

-ASUS P5LP-LE

-Pentium D 920 (P) DC 2.8 GHz (No Link)

I want to do this without having to update any other components
I have 4 x 1GB DDR PC2-5300
I know it would probably be smart to go ahead with a DDR3 but idk if i can keep under 300$ and keep my 4GBs of Memory.

Anyways what I'm asking is simple, Someone can volunteer to look me up a Motherboard/Processor That is under 300$ but is better then what i posted
and if possible get me some RAM that is DDR3 and everything (But under 300$)

Also if you want. I'm always looking to learn, if you can describe why and what makes (Your choice of product) Better i would be happy to learn why.

P.S. I'm a gamer, i want something that will load World of Warcraft faster then what my computer is doing. take 10-20 secs to load the game up. (most programs)


Manufacturer:
HP Pavilion 061 (Costumes added)
Processor:
Intel® Pentium® D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory:
4049MB RAM
Hard Drive:
290 GB
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Operating System:
Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Motherboard:
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard

its a little ironic, but the overall speed of a modern* computer is limited by how fast the hard drive is

so in essence, a faster hard drive interface = faster computer

*modern computer definition- a processor at 1.7ghz or higher with 1.5gb+ ram and a SATA hard drive

[SnyperTodd]

crazy4laptops, on 08 November 2009 - 02:26 PM, said:

its a little ironic, but the overall speed of a modern* computer is limited by how fast the hard drive is

so in essence, a faster hard drive interface = faster computer

*modern computer definition- a processor at 1.7ghz or higher with 1.5gb+ ram and a SATA hard drive

This speed of a few tasks may be limited by the speed of the hard drive, but definitely not the overall speed. Most of the data that is in use at the moment is stored on the RAM, not constantly being written to and read from the hard drive. A fast hard drive will definitely help a system, but the hard drive is not a bottleneck to the vast majority of system tasks.

[waldojim]

SnyperTodd, on 08 November 2009 - 10:40 PM, said:

crazy4laptops, on 08 November 2009 - 02:26 PM, said:

its a little ironic, but the overall speed of a modern* computer is limited by how fast the hard drive is

so in essence, a faster hard drive interface = faster computer

*modern computer definition- a processor at 1.7ghz or higher with 1.5gb+ ram and a SATA hard drive

This speed of a few tasks may be limited by the speed of the hard drive, but definitely not the overall speed. Most of the data that is in use at the moment is stored on the RAM, not constantly being written to and read from the hard drive. A fast hard drive will definitely help a system, but the hard drive is not a bottleneck to the vast majority of system tasks.

looking at his first post:

Quote

P.S. I'm a gamer, i want something that will load World of Warcraft faster then what my computer is doing. take 10-20 secs to load the game up. (most programs)

it would seem that the hard drive could easily be the problem factor here... his processor is also a bit limiting, but will not affect those load times nearly as much.

for faster load times, I would consider a newer, faster hard drive the first upgrade, then change out the processor, and if funds remain, change to a high performance board. EG: nvidia chipsets tend to relive the processor of some of the hard drive access controller load.

[SnyperTodd]

waldojim, on 08 November 2009 - 05:02 PM, said:

SnyperTodd, on 08 November 2009 - 10:40 PM, said:

crazy4laptops, on 08 November 2009 - 02:26 PM, said:

its a little ironic, but the overall speed of a modern* computer is limited by how fast the hard drive is

so in essence, a faster hard drive interface = faster computer

*modern computer definition- a processor at 1.7ghz or higher with 1.5gb+ ram and a SATA hard drive

This speed of a few tasks may be limited by the speed of the hard drive, but definitely not the overall speed. Most of the data that is in use at the moment is stored on the RAM, not constantly being written to and read from the hard drive. A fast hard drive will definitely help a system, but the hard drive is not a bottleneck to the vast majority of system tasks.

looking at his first post:

Quote

P.S. I'm a gamer, i want something that will load World of Warcraft faster then what my computer is doing. take 10-20 secs to load the game up. (most programs)

it would seem that the hard drive could easily be the problem factor here... his processor is also a bit limiting, but will not affect those load times nearly as much.

for faster load times, I would consider a newer, faster hard drive the first upgrade, then change out the processor, and if funds remain, change to a high performance board. EG: nvidia chipsets tend to relive the processor of some of the hard drive access controller load.

Good catch, Waldojim. Loading games is definitely one of the tasks slowed down by a slow hard drive. I didn't read the original post very well. However, it seems that Pavilion 061 is not a valid model number, so I can't determine what kind of hard drive he's got. I would assume a SATA 150MB/s, but I don't know for sure. Now that I reread it, though, I see it says Asus P5N-E SLI like I initially thought, but the link is to an HP motherboard. I wonder which he's really got in there...?

[Factor3x]

Got a few question on multiple categories

First off to answer the question of what hard drive i have

-Hard Drive-

Second, When i Defrag my HD will it need to be re defrag if i do not delete or download anything? (Will it stay defragged for a while?)

Third, A previous question i had was, Does anyone know a website, book, or program i can get for free that will clearly and throughly teach me the fundamentals of building and understanding what parts and items do and go, for building PCs?

I'm going to take a few CC classes for computer sience but i would like to know what i can before actuly joining. This will alow me to understand what I'm doing once I'm actually in the class. I learn better if i read up on things before taking them.

And finally is there a personal email i can reach you at so if i EVER have future question i can contact you personally?
(That was t0ward the man with the Elephant Picture) sorry i don't remember your name.

Thank you so very much for all you help. You have been more then helpful.

[JimH443]

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 03:44 AM, said:

Got a few question on multiple categories

First off to answer the question of what hard drive i have

-Hard Drive-

Second, When i Defrag my HD will it need to be re defrag if i do not delete or download anything? (Will it stay defragged for a while?)

Once the drive is defragged and compacted (which requires multiple running of Defrag to accomplish), it should stay reasonably defragged for a few weeks of normal use. For optimal performance, a drive should be defragged monthly.

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 03:44 AM, said:

Third, A previous question i had was, Does anyone know a website, book, or program i can get for free that will clearly and throughly teach me the fundamentals of building and understanding what parts and items do and go, for building PCs?

I'm going to take a few CC classes for computer sience but i would like to know what i can before actuly joining. This will alow me to understand what I'm doing once I'm actually in the class. I learn better if i read up on things before taking them.

The only source I'm aware of for useful books for free is... the library.

[Factor3x]

JimH443, on 09 November 2009 - 01:17 AM, said:

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 03:44 AM, said:

Got a few question on multiple categories

First off to answer the question of what hard drive i have

-Hard Drive-

Second, When i Defrag my HD will it need to be re defrag if i do not delete or download anything? (Will it stay defragged for a while?)

Once the drive is defragged and compacted (which requires multiple running of Defrag to accomplish), it should stay reasonably defragged for a few weeks of normal use. For optimal performance, a drive should be defragged monthly.

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 03:44 AM, said:

Third, A previous question i had was, Does anyone know a website, book, or program i can get for free that will clearly and throughly teach me the fundamentals of building and understanding what parts and items do and go, for building PCs?

I'm going to take a few CC classes for computer sience but i would like to know what i can before actuly joining. This will alow me to understand what I'm doing once I'm actually in the class. I learn better if i read up on things before taking them.

The only source I'm aware of for useful books for free is... the library.

Yes i know the libarary but what would i look under? I dont know what topics to look for or what book name's i should look under. (computers for dummies?) That could be many things about computers, DoS, Word, How to turn it on Etc) any words or frases i should know about so i can lower my search results?

[JimH443]

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 08:31 AM, said:

JimH443, on 09 November 2009 - 01:17 AM, said:

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 03:44 AM, said:

Third, A previous question i had was, Does anyone know a website, book, or program i can get for free that will clearly and throughly teach me the fundamentals of building and understanding what parts and items do and go, for building PCs?

I'm going to take a few CC classes for computer sience but i would like to know what i can before actuly joining. This will alow me to understand what I'm doing once I'm actually in the class. I learn better if i read up on things before taking them.

The only source I'm aware of for useful books for free is... the library.

Yes i know the libarary but what would i look under? I dont know what topics to look for or what book name's i should look under. (computers for dummies?) That could be many things about computers, DoS, Word, How to turn it on Etc) any words or frases i should know about so i can lower my search results?

I'm presuming your library has computerized indexes, and not a card catalog (I haven't seen a card catalog in at least 20 years). Since you're interested in knowing what it takes to build a computer, I'd recommend doing a topic search for:

Build computer

This should return exactly what you're looking for. Any decent book on the subject will explain what each item does and why you'd want it. It might even include a builder's checklist - to make sure you don't overlook anything while planning to build it.

This post has been edited by JimH443: 09 November 2009 - 06:28 AM

[Factor3x]

I aprecate your help very much
I might be out of line here but in the future try to not be a Smart ass (excuse my language) I know you where probably joking, But just saying.

Again thank you all you have all been very helpful.

[waldojim]

As to the hard drive, that is definately an older one on a slower bus... I would definately recomend shooting for something newer. Look for something with a large cache size (16Mb min, 32Mb preferred), 7200RPM, and Sata 2.0 (3Gb/s). That should have a large impact on your load times.

Keeping the disc defragmented also helps.

[smax013]

Factor3x, on 09 November 2009 - 03:44 AM, said:

Second, When i Defrag my HD will it need to be re defrag if i do not delete or download anything? (Will it stay defragged for a while?)

Your drive will get fragmented over time just from creating new word processor files, etc and just from getting email and browsing the web. Even if you do not directly download a file of some sort, browsing the web still essentially entails downloading files...many of which are small file. And just running programs and even just the OS can create temporary files and such.

All of that will result in some fragmentation of the files on the drive.

How often you should defrag is a matter of differing opinions. Some will recommend weekly...some monthly...some maybe longer. Each can be "correct" depending on the use of the computer. Certainly keeping the drive reasonable defragged will help.

Quote

Third, A previous question i had was, Does anyone know a website, book, or program i can get for free that will clearly and throughly teach me the fundamentals of building and understanding what parts and items do and go, for building PCs?

I'm going to take a few CC classes for computer sience but i would like to know what i can before actuly joining. This will alow me to understand what I'm doing once I'm actually in the class. I learn better if i read up on things before taking them.

I am not aware of anything specific. There might be stuff out there. The best way in many regards is just to "dive in and do it".

You might see if this document helps at all: http://wiki.pcworld....esktop_Computer

Quote

And finally is there a personal email i can reach you at so if i EVER have future question i can contact you personally?
(That was t0ward the man with the Elephant Picture) sorry i don't remember your name.

Thank you so very much for all you help. You have been more then helpful.

You can certainly PM SnyperTodd (that is who you were referring to) anytime you want using the forums PM system. He might be willing to give you an email address, but that is entirely up to him. I can say that since he is one of the hardware gurus on the forums, I have PM'd him on some things that I had questions about.

And you can always post topics asking questions on the forum. In fact, I would encourage you to do that. Not only can it help you, but it could help the next person who comes along who has similar questions to you. For particularly useful and good information, we can use that information to create new documents. And you will also get access to a LOT of different people who are willing to help.

Overall, if you have opened up a computer and installed drives or memory or graphics cards, then building a computer is not really that much different or harder than that. If you have not opened up your computer to upgrade parts like drives, memory, or graphics cards, then that is certainly a good way to start to get familiar with messing with the insides of computer. That is more or less how I got my feet wet. I have now gotten to the point where I have built my own computer and I have also cracked open my laptop (MacBook Pro) to upgrade the hard drive (twice) and the WiFi card and will be doing it again soon to replace a fan that is getting noisy.